It is well known in the health care field that bathtubs present a safety hazard to any person in a weakened or infirm condition. Oftentimes, serious injury results when a person slips and falls while entering or exiting the bathtub. Broken bones and the like often result from such accidents, particularly for the elderly.
Bathtub hand rails which are secured to the side wall of a bathtub have been used for many years. The user secures the hand rail to the side wall of the bathtub by use of a clamping mechanism of some kind. To enter or exit the bathtub, the user grasps a hand-grip portion of the hand rail for support. These hand rails are generally adjustable to fit a variety of bathtub side-wall thicknesses.
Many existing bathtub hand rails are made primarily of bent or rolled steel. A steel hand rail, depending on the amount of steel used, can be heavy, requiring an unacceptably large effort by an elderly or infirm person to position and secure the hand rail to a bathtub side wall. Also, a heavy steel bathtub hand rail is not easy to transport, an important consideration for those situations when the user is travelling overnight outside the home.
Another disadvantage of an all-steel hand rail is that the user may be seriously injured if he or she bumps into or hits against a steel piece. For example, a serious injury can result if a person hits his or her head against an upstanding steel hand-grip portion of a bathtub hand rail.
Many existing hand rails utilize clamps to secure the hand rail to the side wall of the bathtub. For example, a knob attached to a screw is used to tighten the clamps against the surfaces of the bathtub side wall. Rubber or the like is interposed between the clamps and the tub in order to prevent marring or scratching of the tub side wall.
The user must turn such a knob as tightly as possible to insure that the hand rail is secured to the bathtub side wall. The user always is concerned whether in fact he or she has turned the locking knob far enough. Oftentimes, that extra "bite" on the clamp requires the user to exert a large rotational force on the knob.
Also, many existing hand rails have protruding parts which obstruct the user in moving in and out of the bathtub. These protrusions can also be a hazard to a person walking in the area around the outside of the bathtub. Protruding parts, such as knobs or handles, also present a "cluttered" appearance, detracting from the hand rail's attractiveness.
There is also some risk that a protruding knob could be inadvertently rotated by a person bumping into it. This could result in a lessening of the clamping force of the hand rail on the bathtub side wall.
There remains a need for a light-weight, easy to install hand rail which is quickly adjustable to different size tub side walls. Such a hand rail must offer the ultimate in safety and security to the user, and have an easy to use clamping mechanism.